The Friendship Files: The Choices We Make
by LanieSullivan
Summary: A filler scene for "A Matter of choice" taking place after Brody's capture, but before the tag at Amanda's house. Lee and Francine talk in the wake of catching Brody about the respective relationships. This is the first in what I've now begun as a series of Lee/Francine friendship tales that I'm calling "The Friendship Files"


Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This is a little filler for "A Matter of Choice which takes place between the showdown with Brody and Lee's evening at Amanda's house in the tag. Hope you enjoy!

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Lee was sitting on his couch with a laundry basket on the floor in front of him, his coffee table having become a makeshift folding table, a cup of coffee on the end table beside him. He worked in silence on neatly folding the items one by one, arranging them in orderly stacks as he pulled them from the basket, comforted by the light scent of the dryer sheets that Amanda had recommended that he start using. He paused in his task to take a sip of the coffee as it was the only thing keeping him awake right now and he couldn't go to sleep just yet. He'd tried as soon as he'd gotten home, but he couldn't shut his mind off to the events of the past few days so he'd decided to make some productive use of his sleeplessness in the hopes that wearing himself out physically would force him to fall asleep.

He had just reached for the next item in the basket when there was a knock on his door. Heaving a sigh, he rose with the article of clothing still in hand and opened the door to find Francine standing on the other side of it.

Francine looked at him and inquired with a bemused look, "Am I interrupting something?"

A little startled by her question, Lee answered huffily, "No." Didn't she realize by now that was no longer the swinging playboy that he used to be?

"Just expanding your wardrobe then?" She fired back with an arched eyebrow and a nod to his right hand.

Lee glanced down at the red lacy thong he still held, rolled his eyes and said, "Very funny." He opened the door further to allow her admittance to his home and walked back into his living room.

"Red's not your color anyway," Francine quipped as she closed the door. As she walked through his foyer, she couldn't help noticing the pale blue cardigan hung on his coat rack by the door. She shook her head and then took a seat in the armchair opposite Lee. She couldn't resist teasing him just a bit more. She nodded toward the now folded underwear on his coffee table and asked, "Does Amanda know that she left that here?"

Lee cleared his throat loudly, a slight flush creeping into his cheeks and stammered awkwardly, "Wh-What makes you...Um...What makes you think it's Amanda's?" He cleared his throat again as he tried to recall the lies Amanda had told Francine a few months ago and continued not much more confidently, "I know she told you...that...Um...that we-"

Francine held up her hand to cut him off. "Save it, Stetson!"

"What?" he replied snappishly.

Francine rolled her eyes again and said, "Give me a break! Do you honestly think I believed the bogus break-up story that Amanda tried to feed me?"

"Oh, I don't know, the pained looks...the deep sighs...I thought she was pretty convincing."

"Oh, she was...for a minute. That is, until she refused to talk about the details of it. There's not a woman in the world who doesn't want to bitch to another woman about the man who done her wrong after a break-up and with your history combined with _our _history..." She gave him a pointed look. "...I'd be the perfect one for her to bitch to, but she refused. Not to mention the fact that she chatters non-stop about the most inane things that nobody cares about so why wouldn't she want to chat about something that I _would _care about?"

"Well, Amanda is a very private person when it comes to relationships and I do mean, _very_ private." He no longer had the strength to keep denying that Amanda was the owner of the underwear, he was just too damn tired.

"Reserved," Francine confirmed.

"No, not reserved," Lee argued. "She appears that way, but when we're alone, she's..." He flushed again as his eyes fell upon the thong flooding his mind with the memories of how it had ended up in his laundry basket. He quickly turned his attention back to the basket, busying himself with folding several articles of clothing to avoid making eye contact. "Uh...she's anything but reserved."

"My goodness, Scarecrow, Could it be that the infamous ladies' man is actually blushing?"

"Can it, would ya'?" He finished folding the t-shirt in his hand and set it on a small pile of Amanda's things.

Francine pounced on it an amused grin on her face as she shook it out and took a good look at the hot pink tee. "Hot mama?" She said mirthfully.

"Gimme' that," Lee demanded snatching it out of her hands. "I just folded that." He made quick work of re-folding it and setting it back down on the pile, giving Francine a warning look not to touch it again.

"So is she?"

"Is she what, Francine?" Lee sighed as he took another swig of his coffee, draining the cup and then rose to refill it.

As he poured his coffee, Francine entered the kitchen behind him and inquired with a salacious grin, "Is she a hot mama?"

"Coffee?" Lee said as he held up the pot in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah, thanks." As Lee turned to get a cup for her, she asked again, "So...is she?"

Lee sighed as he poured her coffee and then turned back to her to see her bright blue eyes dancing in anticipation. He knew that look all too well, knew that she'd never quit pestering him until he gave her something of an answer, so he finally relented a little as he handed the cup to her and answered, "You'll never know. There just aren't words to describe _how_ hot." He then walked back to the living room and now that the basket was empty and all the clothes folded, he set his cup back down on the end table and began loading the items back into the basket.

"Really?" Francine questioned in a tone that suggested she was half-surprised, half-impressed.

"And that's all the information you're getting, Francine," Lee said as he finished loading up the basket and walked down the hall to his bedroom, Francine hot on his heels.

"Oh, come on, no details?"

"Nope," Lee replied firmly as he set the basket down on his bed and yanked open the top drawer of his dresser. "I said Amanda's a very private person, so I owe it to her to keep things between us private."

"So, I see," Francine fired back as she plucked a black lacy teddy out of the drawer and held it up by one strap with her free hand. "Who'd have guessed the mother of the year would own something like this?" She waved it in Lee's face.

"Would you knock it off already?" Lee snatched it from her hands, stuffed in back into the drawer and began to put the rest of Amanda's things away.

"I just can't believe she's made enough of an impact on you that you let her invade your inner sanctum." She nodded toward the dresser. "A whole drawer to herself? That's a serious commitment for you."

"Actually, she has two," Lee countered as he closed the drawer and opened a lower one filled with his own things. He then moved back to the basket to grab the next pile, nodded toward the closet doors. "And half the closet."

"Wow," Francine let out a low whistle. "You really _are_ committed." Of course, she'd known for a while just how committed he was to Amanda. She just couldn't get him to own up to it, but she wasn't about to give up on it. She knew she'd wear him down in time. She'd tried on Amanda, but she was as hard as Gibraltar about it and wouldn't give an inch.

"Yeah," Lee replied as he continued to work. "But somehow I'm guessing that you didn't come here to discuss my private life with Amanda. You never show up here just for a chat, so what's up?"

"Well..." She hesitated, not sure that she wanted to stir up a hornet's nest, but she didn't know who else to talk to. "I...um...I wanted to...um...thank you...you know...for giving Jonathan the benefit of the doubt even when it looked like he was in it up to his ears with Brody...for um...for believing in me." She sighed and added, "I...um...I don't have a whole lot of close friends, mostly because I just don't trust people in general, but you...you really came through for me."

"And?" Lee probed as he closed the drawer, turned to face her, and folded his arms across his chest expectantly.

"And what?" This time, it was her turn to be evasive. "There's no "and". That's it. Just thank you."

"Uh-huh," Lee replied dubiously.

"Why aren't you in bed, anyway? You've been up for what, two days straight?"

"Couldn't sleep," Lee answered simply, "Too much on my mind. Now, tell me what's on yours."

"Nothing," she denied, "Like I said, just wanted to say thank you."

"Francine, you could have said thank you with a phone call." He uncrossed his arms as he picked up the empty basket and stowed it away in his closet. He closed the closer door, turned back to her and said, "So, what's gives?"

Once more, she sighed as she tapped her fingernails nervously against her coffee cup. After a moment, the light tinkling sound of her nails against the ceramic cup began to grate on her nerves. She stopped abruptly and finally gave in. "As much as it pains me to say this, I...um...I need a little advice."

Lee nodded. "Come on," He said with a gentle hand on her arm, much as he had when they'd been on their walk to the agency's lab. "Let's go sit down where we can be comfortable, huh?" Francine nodded mutely and the pair made their way back to the living room, both resuming their earlier positions facing one another. Lee picked up his cup, took another sip and began the conversation with, "So, I take it this is about Prince Charming?"

"He has a name, Lee," Francine countered defensively.

"So, spill. What's up with you and...Jonathan? Trouble in paradise already?"

"No, just the opposite," Francine explained. "After that mess with Brody, we talked. I mean, _really_ talked."

"I'll bet," Lee fired back with an impish grin.

"_Just_ talked," Francine stated adamantly. "We had the most honest conversation that we've ever had and it...um...it brought up all these old feelings and I...wondered if we...you know, just couldn't pick up where we left off."

"Just like that?" Lee looked at her worriedly.

"No, not just like that. Billy...uh...he...uh...gave me permission to take some time off...you know cash in on that two weeks that Dr. Smyth promised after that Dubinsky mess. He figured that I'd need...you know...some time to get my head together...figure out where Jonathan and I stand with each other. I mean, you saw what a mess I was when he left."

"I seem to recall being the one cleaning up that mess," Lee reminded her pointedly as he reflected back on their torrid history, his tone reminding her of it as well.

"Well, you were no better," Francine retorted. "You were quite the wreck after Eva married someone else. You came crawling home from Italy with your tail tucked between your legs."

"Okay, okay," Lee acknowledged. "We both needed a little mess cleaning done back then. The question is what are you going to do about the current mess?"

"That's what I need advice on. When I told Jonathan that Billy was letting me take two weeks off, he suggested we spend it together...you know...to work on things, get to know each other again. He bought two tickets to Paris. Wanted to show me what he's been doing there. We leave tomorrow."

"Impressive." Lee let out a low whistle as Francine had earlier when scrutinizing the contents of his dresser. "So, what's the problem?"

"The problem is that now I'm not so sure that I should have said yes. I mean, it sounded so sweet and Paris is incredibly romantic but..." She trailed off and began tapping her nails against her cup again.

"But...?" Lee prodded.

Francine stopped tapping. "But what if we have this amazing, great, wonderful, romantic trip together and think we've got everything all worked out, but when we come back home and reality sets in again..." She stared into the blackness of her coffee, as she felt the matching blackness of her fears creeping up on her. "What if it's the everyday stuff that he couldn't handle the first time around and he leaves again?"

"What did he say about why he left the first time around?" Lee inquired.

"That he was weak and I was strong," she answered honestly. She finally looked back at him. "What if it's true?" she asked sheepishly. "What if I'm too strong to make a real relationship work? You know me, Lee, better than anyone and you know that I'm not cut out to be the meek girly-girl who lets a man do things for me that I'm capable of doing for myself. What if there's not a man out there who's strong enough to take me as I am?"

"Then they're not worthy of you anyway," Lee stated bluntly.

"I appreciate that, Lee, but that's not very encouraging."

He thought for a moment of how to get his point across to her. "Listen, did...um...did Amanda ever tell you why her marriage fell apart? Why she got divorced?"

"Not really, just something vague about her ex never being home enough. Why? What does Amanda's divorce have to do with my situation?"

"Because it's very similar. Joe King was too weak to handle Amanda's intense strength, especially when he realized that she was doing just as well without hm around as she was _with_ him around...that she didn't need him to survive or to be happy."

"Huh," Francine replied thoughtfully.

"I think that if you really want this to work with Jonathan, don't concentrate on giving him what he wants, but something that he _needs_, something that he can't live without."

"Is that what's made you set a landmark record in your relationship history with her? What's made it last with her?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Lee responded with a smile as he thought of his wife and how she always knew just what he needed even when he didn't know himself.

Francine thought of another question that she wanted to ask him, but wasn't sure that she should. They were both silent for a moment until she timidly said, "Lee?" as she looked down again.

"Yeah?" He replied. When Francine was silent again for a long moment, he began to get concerned. "Francine? You know you can say anything to me, right?"

"I know, I was just...I was just thinking." She finally looked up at him, thought to herself, _What the hell? What's the worst that could happen? _She took a deep breath and asked, "Is that why you and I didn't work out? Because I didn't give you what you needed."

Lee contemplated her question for a moment, turning it over and over in his mind and then finally answered, "I don't know that that's necessarily true. I mean, it is and it isn't."

"Great," Francine muttered with a roll of her eyes, "A riddle. I should start calling you Dr. Smyth."

"Hear me out a second," Lee continued. "You gave me what I needed _when_ I needed it, just like I gave you what _you_ needed when you needed it, but..." He took a deep, sobering breath before plunging on. "But when that need was no longer there, then it was time to end it, otherwise neither of us would have been able to truly live our lives the way that we were meant to. You can't honestly tell me that you ever saw you and me living happily ever after...can you?"

"No, absolutely not" Francine said without thinking. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you're a great guy and all, but...Jonathan...he's the only one I ever saw like that."

Lee nodded in understanding. He felt the same way about Amanda. He set down his cup and gave her a stern look."Listen, Francine, you've got a choice here. You can give up now and always wonder if things could have worked out for the two of you or you can let your guard down a little, take a chance and let him see who you really are. If he doesn't like what he sees, that's his loss. I think you should go for it, see where it leads. If you don't, you'll always have that nagging doubt gnawing at you, making you wonder what might have been." He paused as he thought of the Stemwinder mess and how close he'd come to nearly ruining his chance to do the same with Amanda and would have if not for her stubborn determination to go with him. Even then, she knew what he needed when he didn't. "Believe me, I know."

"Maybe," Francine mused, still not quite convinced. How was it that Lee could sound so sure of the right choice for her to make when he had made a conscious choice to keep his real relationship with Amanda under wraps, a choice that she violently disagreed with. Not that she'd tell him that because he'd just deny that it was true unless she confronted hm with proof of it. She knew Lee well enough to know that was the wrong approach with him because he would only get defensive and tell her that it was none of her damn business.

Seeing the doubt and worry still on her face, he tried to lighten the mood a little. "Well, just don't come running to me again if it doesn't work out this time. I'm spoken for now." He grinned at her.

Francine smiled back and said, "Yeah, I know you are." She was silent for a beat as she pondered his words and the tiny bits he'd shared with her about Amanda. "You know, I think I will go for it!"

"Good, I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks," She put down her coffee cup, rose from her seat and said, "I...uh...I should get going. If I'm getting on a plane to Paris tomorrow, I have a lot of packing to do and maybe a little shopping. After all, you don't go to Paris without a decent wardrobe." When Lee laughed, she turned serious again for a moment. "Thanks...for the advice."

"You're welcome." Lee replied as he rose to see her out.

"Now, let me give _you_ some advice." At Lee's quizzical look, she continued, "Go see Amanda. Maybe she can help you ease whatever's on your troubled mind so you can sleep."

Lee nodded. "You know, that's a good idea, Thanks."

"Anytime," she said as she made her way to the door, Lee trailing behind her. As she opened the door and was just about to step through it, she paused, turned back to him and added, "By the way, tell your WIFE that I said hello," then hurried out the door and down the hall before Lee could respond, leaving him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Huh," Lee shook his head as he reached for his keys, as he planned to follow his friend's advice and hoped that she followed his.


End file.
